According to Learsy, the price of oil no longer has any relation to the market discipline of supply and demand. He argues that consumers are paying outrageously high prices because of speculation and lax government oversight, especially over the commodity exchanges. The book functions as a resource for the public, so they can begin to counter what Learsy calls, “the malevolent influence of oil interests on our oversight agencies and somnolent press.”

An interviewee for a New York Times article about fuel country from January of last year asks the disturbing question, "Are these people going to be found frozen?" In his book's wide-ranging critique, which positions high fuel costs as only one among a series of crises, Learsy comments that words such as those quoted in the NY Times "define what the cold of winter means to so many in Maine. Stark, frightening words from the owner of a small oil dealership listening to the pleas of too many of his customers, unable to pay for their heating oil deliveries."

Learsy contends that people are fed up with high oil and gas prices. “The aim of the book is to inform people about the extensive corruption causing high oil and gas prices, and by doing so, encourage them to insist that their elected officials, as well as government regulators, take strong action to correct the problem,” he says.

About the Author
Raymond J. Learsy, a graduate of the Wharton School, started his own commodities trading firm in 1963, expanding worldwide, trading in bulk raw materials including oil and gas. Learsy’s analysis of the international oil trade has been featured in The New York Times, the Pipeline and Gas Journal, CNBC, NPR and as a regular contributor on The Huffington Post.

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